Monday 30 July 2018

GNP SPORTS' MANAGER SHAMIR ALAM CONTINUES HIS ASSESSMENT OF HIS TEAM'S PRE-SEASON...





Sham's thoughts on both the 2-1 win v Walsall Wood and the 1-3 loss to NKF Burbage:

"Every player on Tuesday played to their maximum against Premier Division Walsall Wood which I know they have in them; there was technical excellence, plus a directness about them, there was fight and grit and tactically we were the better side. The players need to start believing in themselves a bit more though and if they do that we will be OK this season. 

The Burbage game was one of fine margins. We dominated the first 20 minutes but weren’t clinical enough. They dominated the last 25 of the first-half and scored twice. In the second-half we had the better chances and got a late consolation goal but it highlighted some things I needed to see before we go into our final week's training of pre-season."

It was a tough pre-season for GNP and Sham reflected:

"The boys have worked and performed extremely well, they know my expectations of them but they need to start demanding those high expectations of each other in training and matches and if we do that then we are onto something special. There isn’t a Division 2 side which has had a tougher pre-season than us and we know we are expecting a tough old season with everyone wanting to beat us, so this pre-season will prepare the players to have that emotional resilience they will all need come August 11th and beyond." 

Sham wrote about signings:

"The team's abit battered and bruised at present, so we have a few sessions this week then they will get a week off to recover their bodies ready to give everything on 11th August. I have got some help coming but 90% of the business I wanted to do was done early and all the players we wanted we signed. There is still one more signing we will be announcing in the coming days and then that’s us done, unless unless we were to get any leavers, etc. 

The prospective signing has unreal quality and GNP is the perfect club for him because we will look after him and allow him to flourish in this team. Some will say it’s a risk to sign him but he’s worth it. I feel I’m that manager he hasn’t had in years who will bring the absolute best out of him. When he needs a kick up the arse he will get it and when he needs to be told he’s one of the best in the MFL, he will be told that also!"

Sham's comments about the opening fixtures for his team:

"Couldn’t have been any worse and clearly the 'random' fixture computer isn’t a fan of us. First game of the season we are away at Coton Green, the second game is a midweek encounter versus Redditch Borough who finished last season by obtaining just about enough points to survive, so they will be buzzing. Title challengers Fairfield Villa and Northfield Town follow next and the 5th game is a small derby game versus last year's Division 1 strugglers Coventry Alvis. They should have chucked title favourites Feckenham in there also to make things worse but I’m sure we will get them away from home in September!" 

'Yours in football...'


Shamir Alam, Manager, GNP Sports...


Sunday 29 July 2018

MOUSEHOLE IMAGES: SATURDAY, 28TH JULY...













THE STEGOSAURUS, THE SPHINX & THE HARSH-FACED HARE: A NEW CORNISH POEM...

The Stegosaurus, The Sphinx and the Harsh-Faced Hare

Like giant sculptures
From individual granite blocks,
They reflected time,
Despite the weathering;
Pale gold against the ocean’s restless blue:
The Stegosaurus, The Sphinx and The Harsh-Faced Hare…

Like iconic colossi
In carved granite rock,
They’ve defeated time,
Their resolve unwavering;
Each story untold, fictitious or true:
The Stegosaurus, The Sphinx and the Harsh-Faced Hare… 

Yet folks walk the coast path and ignore what lies there:
The Stegosaurus, The Sphinx and the Harsh-Faced Hare…

Pete Ray
July 2018

Granite rock formations on the Cornish coast path between Porthgwarra and Gwennap Head…


They seemed to signal the passing of time between the prehistoric, the ancient and recent times…

THE LION & MOUSEHOLE: A NEW POEM...

The Lion and Mousehole

It was surely Lenny the Lion.
There, on Mousehole’s rock strewn beach.
Terry Hall’s arm was missing, naturally,
Which would into his puppet’s innards stretch and reach…

It was tough to decide who was in control
There, on vintage children’s television,
For the limp pawing lion was gaily vocal
And the ventriloquist dumbly accepted the derision…

It was Lenny the Lion’s head
There, with an expression plainly indignant,
Its features hewn and weathered from solid stone
But the hole for Terry’s arm lay redundant…

Pete Ray
July 2018

I always wondered what had happened to the annoying puppet Lenny the Lion and there he was… 


No waxwork, merely a stone effigy of his enormous head… 



MOUSEHOLE, CORNWALL, THURSDAY/FRIDAY...














Friday 27 July 2018

PENBERTH, JULY 2018: A NEW POEM...

Penberth, July 2018

There was a peace about Penberth,
Yet pervading, there was also a sense
Something was amiss,
Perhaps forgotten about,
Something to render one tense…

There was a curiousness about the slipway,
And its mosaic of smooth stones, rounded;
Something seemed insecure
About the lapping tide,
Something dark which confounded…

There was some comfort about the boats,
A hint of permanent reliance;
Something too of sustainability,
A reluctance to change:
Something about defiance…

And a winch sat perched
And stepping stones urged
The crossing of streams;
And taut ropes strained
And slipway scars ingrained,
Like rock strata seams;
And there was a nefarious feel
And yet a dubious appeal,
As if reality was emerging from dreams…

Pete Ray
July 2018

Even those renting or living in cottages there seemed somewhat Bohemian…


And the first thatched cottage one sees after parking looks like it has been prepared for the filming, not of Poldark, but of some gruesome, spooky tale…  






Wednesday 25 July 2018

THE END OF THE LINE FOR TOBY THE TRAM: A NEW POEM...

The End Of The Line For Toby The Tram

It seemed like the soot blackened face 
Of Toby the Tram engine
Had been dismantled, disgruntled
In a breakers’ yard,
Then dumped on Mousehole’s shoreline
To suffer the duress, the distress
Caused by storms and ravaging tidelines…

Clung to by limpets and defecated upon
By screaming gulls which cared nought
For this delightful character, deep in thought:
Abandoned, dismissed and distraught,
Wallowing helplessly in his own disgrace…

PETE RAY
JULY 2018


A black rock on Mousehole’s beach reminded me of a Thomas the Tank Engine character, Toby the Tram…


MOUSEHOLE: TUESDAY JULY MORNING... A NEW POEM...

Mousehole: Tuesday July Morning

The Mount cast its mischievous spell,
Dispersing a morning mist
About itself, like a disappearing act with magic dust;
The chameleon ocean dulled from a vibrant blue
To a dull, depressing grey swell with irreverence
And a light drizzle pockmarked its indifference…

Three white egrets, their spindly legs seemingly stilted,
Foraged on rocks and in nooks, as the tide wilted,
Their yellow feet unflappable;
And a pair of indefatigable oystercatchers,
Camouflaged from casual watchers,
Flitted between outcrops, imperturbable… 

Pete Ray
July 2018


Hot weather for much of the U.K. but Mousehole, St Michael’s Mount and Mount’s Bay languished in drizzle and mist…